Thursday, January 15, 2009

Pet Peeve # 4

I had a pair of dress pants on this morning. They were two or three inches too short. They didn't use to be, but now they've shrunk. So I changed them to another pair that still hides my ankles. I hate it when clothes are washed according to the label and they still shrink.

Do you ever calculate out the cost per wear for an item of clothing? If a pair of shoes is, say $100, and you wear them 4 days a week 25 weeks a year, then the cost per wear is $1. But the cost per wear for that party dress, which was on sale, but you only wore once, is still too much to confess to.

I'll spring for slightly more pricey dress pants if I'll get a lot of wear out of them, but I can't get a lot of wear out of them if they shrink. Those, say $50 dress pants, that you were going to wear once a week have a potential CPW of $5 for a season. If they shrink, the CPW is now $25 or $50, depending whether you spill your lunch in your lap or not. Not a good buy, especially if you have to purge them immediately. (Pet peeve #4.1: hems that you can't let out.)

My current favorite pants are the "Adirondack" pants by L.L.Bean. They're not "dressy" but I can wear them to work. They're made in "medium-tall" and "tall" so even if the talls shrink when they're not supposed to, they are still long enough to hide my ankles. They are on sale this week, so I bought four pairs. Cool colors too! Yippee! I had a LLBean gift card, too, so the CPW will be quite low. Double Yippee!

Now I just need to purge four pairs of now-too-short pants when the new ones arrive.

 

9 comments:

just me said...

Could you make those too-short pants into shorts for next summer? Are the colors appropriate?

That's what I do when D outgrows his pants, esp if they fit well at the waist :)

Anne said...

JM, They are beige dress pants, the color would be ok, but they are cut like dress pants and pockets are crummy so they'd make lousy shorts. I could re-evaluate them for a cropped-pant conversion, however.

Lisa said...

I calculate shoes at cost per wear per shoe. It's much better to justify that way.

John said...

I think the cost per wear of my jeans has reached the negative mark. I won't even mention my boxers. For that, I am sure you are grateful.

Unknown said...

Mine don't shrink from washing. They shrink from food intake otherwise known as FAT.

Just me said what I was thinking. And then you came up with a fab way of re-using them with cropped pants.

Dtodd said...

I think its good to include some nice things in the Goodwill bag among all of the "2002 Monroeville QuiltFest" t-shirts that are usually given away. Not that there's anything wrong with the Monroeville QuiltFest. So give 'em away.

Maddy said...

Hmm that would peeve me too. It makes me harken back to the days when trousers had stirrups to slip your feet into to force them to be the right length. I worry that you want to hide your ankles though, although hacking them with pinking shears for that Capri length probably isn't the answer either.
Cheers

AM Kingsfield said...

I do calculate cost per wear. It's those fancy clothes that wreck the curve.

sowalker said...

You can consider changing into shorts, so you have a new pair of shorts.Hiking backpack when you will be able to use it